Boy21 by Matthew Quick

8:44 PM

Pages: 250
Publisher: Little Brown Books
ISBN: 9780316127974
Genre: Young Adult

Review by Geraldine

Synopsis (Goodreads.com):

Basketball has always been an escape for Finley. He lives in gray, broken Bellmont, a town ruled by the Irish Mob, drugs, violence, and racially charged rivalries. At home, he takes care of his disabled grandfather, and at school he’s called “White Rabbit”, the only white kid on the varsity basketball team. He’s always dreamed of getting out somehow with his girlfriend, Erin. But until then, when he puts on his number 21, everything seems to make sense.

Russ has just moved to the neighborhood. A former teen basketball phenom from a privileged home, his life has been turned upside down by tragedy. Cut off from everyone he knows, he now answers only to the name Boy21—his former jersey number—and has an unusual obsession with outer space.

As their final year of high school brings these two boys together, “Boy21” may turn out to be the answer they both need.



My Thoughts (Spoiler-free):

I'll be completely honest, I definitely bought this book for its cover, because how could you say no to this amazing cover?! I haven't seen or heard anything about this book in the Booktube community or on Goodreads, so I didn't know what to expect.  But, as soon as I started reading it, I could not put it down! 

The two main characters Finley and Russ were so genuine and seemed like people you would actually meet in real life. Honestly, if you asked me to point them out, I could easily point them out to you solely based on the bond that they had with each other.


I did not expect to cry at all, so it caught me a little off guard when I started balling my eyes out; It was embarrassing. I'm not even joking, tears were literally dripping on my shirt! I don't think that this book would normally be a tearjerker, but for me it was because I felt connected to certain lines that I read throughout the book.

The only problem I had with this book was the ending because as always I wanted more! I really wanted to know what became of all the characters in the end, so I'm hoping that Matthew Quick writes a sequel! That being said, I definitely recommend reading this book, and I'm looking forward to re-reading it in the future because THE FEELS. 4 stars!
♛♛♛

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